Antelope Island, with an area of 42 square miles (109&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), is the largest of ten islands located within the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The island lies in the southeastern portion of the lake, near Salt Lake City and Davis County, and becomes a peninsula when the lake is at extremely low levels. It is protected as Antelope Island State Park.

The first known non-natives to visit the island were John C. Frémont and Kit Carson during exploration of the Great Salt Lake in 1845, who "rode on horseback over salt from the thickness of a wafer to twelve inches" and "were informed by the Indians that there was an abundance of fresh water on it and plenty of antelope". It is said they shot a pronghorn antelope on the island, and in gratitude for the meat, they named it Antelope Island.

Antelope Island holds populations of pronghorn, bighorn sheep, American bison, porcupine, badger, coyote, bobcat, mule deer, and millions of waterfowl. The bison were introduced to the island in 1893, and the Antelope Island bison herd has proven to be a valuable genetic pool for bison breeding and conservation purposes. The bison do well, because much of the island is covered by dry, native grassland.

The geology of Antelope Island consists mostly of alluvial plains with prairie grassland on the north, east and south of the island, along with a mountainous central area of older Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks and late Precambrian to Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, covered by a thin layer of Quaternary lake deposits, colluvium and alluvium. The Precambrian deposits on Antelope Island are some of the oldest rocks in the United States, older even than the Precambrian rocks at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

State park

thumb|left|Antelope Island, 1875–1890. Photo by [[Charles Roscoe Savage.]]

Antelope Island State Park is a Utah state park and the entire island is included in the park. Early in the 20th century, because of its wildlife and scenery, some suggested that Antelope Island should become a national park, but the movement never came to fruition. When the Utah State Parks System was created, proposals were made to turn Antelope Island into Antelope Island State Park and the proposal gradually gathered public support, but Antelope Island was privately owned at the time. Originally, Antelope Island was used as a ranch for cattle and sheep, starting from the earliest days of the arrival of the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) controlled the ranch on the island from 1848 until approximately 1870. The island was purchased in 1870 by John Dooly Sr., and he established the Island Improvement Company, which managed the island and ranches from 1884 until 1981. The State of Utah purchased the northern part of the island in 1969, and acquired the remainder in 1981 when the state purchased the historical Fielding Garr Ranch. then west along Antelope Drive (SR-108). The island's shore (all but west side of the island) is mostly flat with beaches and plains to the base of the mountains on the island. These steep mountains are visible from most of the northern Wasatch Front, reaching a maximum elevation of , which is about above the level of the lake.

Antelope Island State Park operates a 10-watt travelers' information station on 530&nbsp;kHz&nbsp;AM. The transmitter is on the south side of the causeway near the island. This station can be heard in Ogden and as far south as Salt Lake City. It carries information about the park's hours of operation & promotes upcoming events that the state park coordinates.

Antelope Island State Park has approximately 280,000 visitors in 2010. It was the fifth most-visited state park in Utah.

Visitor center

In February 2024, the Miller family foundation announced a $2.2 million donation to support water conservation efforts through the Antelope Island Learning Center. The related efforts including renovation of the learning center and the addition of a theater are being coordinated with the Utah Department of Natural Resources and Utah Water Ways.

History

Native Americans

Archeological evidence dates the earliest habitation of Native Americans in Utah to about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Paleolithic people lived near the Great Basin's wetlands, which had an abundance of fish, birds, and small game animals. Big game, including giant bison, mammoths and ground sloths, were also attracted to the water sources. Over the years, the megafauna disappeared, while American bison, mule deer and pronghorn became more predominant.

Around 8000 BC, this population was replaced by the Desert Archaic people, who sheltered in caves near the Great Salt Lake. Relying more on gathering than the previous Utah residents, their diet was largely made of cattails and other salt tolerant plants such as pickleweed, burro weed and sedge. Red meat appears to have been a luxury. The Desert Archaic people used nets and the atlatl to hunt water fowl, small animals and pronghorns. Artifacts include nets woven with rabbit skin and plant fibers, gaming sticks, woven sandals, and animal figures made from split-twigs. About 3,500 years ago, lake levels rose and the population of Desert Archaic people appears to have dramatically decreased. There are forty freshwater springs on Antelope Island. The Fielding Garr Ranch was built near the strongest and most consistent of the springs. Archaeologists have determined that human activity has taken place near these springs for at least 1,000 years.

Fielding Garr Ranch

The first Anglo-Americans to reach the island were John C. Fremont and Kit Carson. They explored Antelope Island in 1845 and named the island for the herds of grazing pronghorn. The first permanent settler on the island was Fielding Garr.

thumb|A view of the ranch

The building of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 opened the rest of the island to settlement by homesteaders. The first federal surveys of the island revealed that only the area surrounding the Fielding Garr Ranch had been improved. This discovery gave the federal government the authority to open the island to settlement under the Homestead Act. At the time there were fewer than 1,000 head of bison in all of North America.

Protected status

The process of changing Antelope Island from a privately owned ranch to a state park took many years. During the early 20th century there was talk of the island being acquired by the federal government for the establishment of a national park.

A. H. Leonard purchased the herd of bison from the Dooly family in 1926. The study had high praise for Antelope Island as a potential national park, but found "little else worthwhile about the Great Salt Lake". The National Park Service was concerned with a lack of planning by the State of Utah and the fact that the lake was used as a dumping site for municipal and industrial waste. At the time the facilities at the park were minimal. Temporary shower facilities were constructed and available for a "long weekend" over the Memorial Day weekend of 1969. Boating facilities were also available on a limited basis. Davis County commissioners were against the establishment of a national monument citing the "look but don't touch" rules of national monuments. The local government was in favor of the state park and encouraged its development as a means of attracting tourists and increasing county revenues. Access to the park was limited to a causeway on the southern end of the park at Saltair The park hosted a "moderate number" of visitors during the 1960s and 1970s. Visitation came to a stop in 1983 when floodwaters washed out both causeways. Cars did not return to the park until 1993 when the northern causeway was re-opened. and more than in area, the lake was nearly as large as Lake Michigan and significantly deeper. With the change in climate, the lake began drying up, leaving Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, Sevier Lake, and Rush Lake as remnants. In an average year the lake covers an area of approximately , which provide food for visiting waterfowl. Because of the high salinity, the island is mostly without readily available fresh water.

Geology

Antelope Island is and is long and at its widest point. The island is in the midst of the Great Basin between the Wasatch and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. The highest point on the island is Frary Peak at above sea level. Tourists pay a fee to access the park via the island's causeways. The northern are developed. There are several campsites, a day use area, swimming area, and picnic areas near Bridger Bay on the northwestern end of the island. There is a restaurant located near the Bridger Bay beach access. The rest of the park is largely undeveloped. A few old roads cross the island and so do some hiking trails. The remnants of old mining claims and the Fielding Garr Ranch are open to park visitors. Hiking and cycling are common activities, but water is scarce and there are few trees on the island. Though not strictly a desert island there are no permanent human inhabitants and conditions are quite dry and can be very hot during the summer. Freely flowing freshwater is not readily available on the island, though there are a few natural springs, mostly in the mountainous spine of the island and towards the south end of the island. Water and restrooms are available in the visitor areas of the island. There is a gift shop and a small fast-food restaurant that is open during the main visitor season at Buffalo Point. Electric bikes are available for rentals or tours. Public beaches, a marina, and overnight camping areas are available on the northern part of the island.

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File:Antelope Island Causeway 2005.JPG|Causeway connecting Antelope Island to Syracuse, Utah

File:Coast of Antelope Island as seen from the causeway.jpg|Coast of Antelope Island as seen from the causeway

File:Antelope Island.jpg|Antelope Island

File:2015-10-27 14 35 29 View northeast across Antelope Island, Utah from an aircraft departing Salt Lake City International Airport.jpg|Aerial view of Antelope Island

File:Antelope Island Buffalo Point 2005.jpg|View of Great Salt Lake from Buffalo Point, Antelope Island

File:Diamictite Mineral Fork.JPG|Boulder of diamictite of the Precambrian Mineral Fork Formation, along the Elephant Head Trail

File:LoganAntelopeIsland 244.jpg|American bison grazing on Antelope Island

File:Antelope island sunset.jpg|Antelope Island sunset

File:Sunset on Antelope Island Causeway.jpg|Sunset on the causeway

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Annual special events

thumb|Fielding Garr Ranch

  • Great Salt Lake Bird Festival - May

Wildlife

Antelope Island State Park provides a habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Despite its name, the park is most famous for its herd of bison. The size of the Antelope Island bison herd ranges from 550 to 700 animals and is controlled by an annual bison round-up. However, due to the lack of a natural predator, the gray wolf, Bison hunting continued on the island until 1926 when the final "Big Buffalo Hunt" eliminated all but a few of the bison. Public sentiment changed during the 1920s and activists began to call for the protection of the herd on Antelope Island.

The hunt of 1926 was covered by Time magazine. A herd of approximately 300-400 bison

Bighorn sheep

Bighorn sheep were introduced to Antelope Island State Park in the late 1990s. The herd on the island was gathered from herds in Nevada and British Columbia. The sheep are protected from human threats on the island and can be used to reintroduce the bighorn in areas throughout western North America. On January 29, 2020, 25 bighorn sheep were relocated from Montana's Rocky Boy Reservation in order to restore the population. In October 2022, 27 more bighorn sheep were relocated to Antelope Island from the Morenci-Clifton area in Arizona. The new sheep will provide more genetic diversity to the Antelope Island herd. The eventual management goal of the island is 125 sheep.

Other mammals found on the island include mule deer (estimated to number 250), pronghorn antelope (approximately 200 on the island), bighorn sheep (estimated 200), coyotes, bobcats, badgers, porcupines, cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, and several species of ground squirrels and other rodents.

Birds

The wetlands surrounding the Great Salt Lake account for nearly 80% of the wetlands in Utah. tags, and the template below

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  • Antelope Island State Park
  • W. Adolph Yonkee, et al., Road and Trail Logs of Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah, in Geologic Road, Trail, and Lake Guides to Utah's Parks and Monuments 2000 Utah Geological Association Publication 29
  • Photos of Antelope Island State Park
  • Antelope Island Field Trip Home Page Weber State University Department of Botany
  • Antelope Island Bike Trail Utah.com